March 29, 2023, 3:02 pm | Read time: 12 minutes

The pet market in Germany is growing relentlessly. According to the latest data from the Industrial Association of Pet Supplies (IVH) and the Central Association of Zoological Companies of Germany (ZZF) from April 2022, the number of pets has risen to 34.5 million (PETBOOK reported). Especially during the coronavirus pandemic, many people found the opportunity favorable to fulfill their wish for a pet—a boom not yet reflected in the aforementioned numbers. There is also still uncertainty about how many pets acquired during the pandemic have already been returned.

The rising cost of living, the increase in veterinary fees (PETBOOK reported), and the care of pets from Ukraine by animal shelters are contributing to the situation becoming more acute. Many future pet owners now want to do something good and give a dog or cat from a shelter a new chance. But those considering adopting a pet from a shelter under the motto “Adopt don’t shop” often find it’s easier said than done. Some applicants fail to meet the criteria for pet adoption.

It’s Best to Inform Yourself About Pet Adoption in Advance

Many of the animals come from poor conditions and have specific requirements for future owners. Descriptions often state that the pet is “only to be placed in homes with a garden,” “only adoptable as a free-roamer,” “wants to remain an only pet,” or “due to biting incidents, only to be given to experienced hands.”

But even for the more straightforward shelter residents, future owners must meet certain prerequisites, with little room for compromise. Some leave disappointed and leave a negative review on Google: “It seems like they just want to manage the animals and not actually find them homes.”

Are the rules too strict? PETBOOK editors Saskia Schneider, Louisa Stoeffler, and Dennis Agyemang spoke with six major animal shelters in Germany about the criteria for pet adoption. In addition to appropriate housing, financial status and lifestyle can also play a role.

Booking Appointments for Pet Adoption Is Standard Post-Corona

Before the pandemic, you could visit the shelter almost any day, but now you often have to book appointments to see or meet dogs or cats. This way, the shelter can determine in advance which potential adopters are serious about adopting. To inform applicants about adoption requirements, shelters provide information sheets on their websites. This applies to all facilities PETBOOK contacted for this article. These are:

• Stuttgart Animal Shelter/Animal Protection Association Stuttgart and Surroundings e. V.
• Berlin Animal Shelter
• Hamburg Animal Shelter
• Frankfurt Animal Shelter
• Cologne-Dellbrück Animal Shelter
• Munich Animal Shelter

Often, there are separate information sheets for dogs, cats, small animals, or exotics, as exemplified by the Hamburg Animal Shelter for various pet types. Particularly, keeping demanding small animals in a social group is mandatory for adoption. Kennel housing and spiked collars for dogs, as well as solitary housing for young cats, are also prohibited.

In addition to this information, the Berlin Animal Shelter also provides checklists to help you determine in advance if you meet the important criteria for pet adoption and have thought of everything.

Also interesting: Getting a Pet – Better from a Shelter or a Breeder?

Those Wanting a Pet Must Expect Home Visits

To verify applicants’ information in advance and to check the pet’s housing and care afterward, at least one home visit is customary. Whether these occur before or after adoption varies. In Stuttgart, they always occur beforehand, while in Hamburg, due to time constraints, pre-adoption visits are rare, explains Sven Fraaß, head of public relations and spokesperson for the Hamburg Animal Shelter.

In Berlin, this is also rare, as Ute Reinhardt, head of politics and communication at the Berlin Animal Shelter, explains. “There are definitely follow-up visits, meaning all adopted animals are visited after adoption. We check if everything is okay. Adopters can also ask questions here.” Munich also conducts post-adoption home visits—but unannounced.

»We Use Google Maps to See Where People Live

In Frankfurt am Main, they now use technology and ask applicants for a home video showing how the pet will live: Where will the dog sleep? Where will it eat and drink? Is there a garden? If so, please clearly film the fencing. The doorbell with the name must also be clearly visible in the video, and you must show entering through the front door.

In Cologne, they also use technical aids, as Sylvia Hemmerling, responsible for public relations at the Cologne-Dellbrück Animal Shelter, reveals: “For free-roamers, we use Google Maps to see where people live. Are there major roads nearby? If necessary, someone will also drive by to check if the environment is cat-friendly. We also personally bring the animals to their new home and check the conditions on-site. If we find something doesn’t fit, we take the cat back with us.”

The Most Important Criterion: Pet and Owner Must Be Compatible

It’s often heard that people don’t get a pet because they are too old or have children in the household. However, age or family circumstances are not exclusion criteria for pet adoption at any of the shelters contacted. “Some people want a dog or breed that doesn’t match their lifestyle or character. It makes no sense to keep a livestock guardian dog in a two-room apartment or an active dog with a less active person,” Petra Veiel, spokesperson and animal welfare educator at the Stuttgart Animal Shelter, tells PETBOOK. “We always try to discuss the reason with people. Often, there’s another solution. We often have older people who want a puppy. Alternatively, we have older dogs that suit them.”

For most shelter staff, it’s important that pet and owner are compatible. “We need to like the people,” says Sylvia Hemmerling from the Cologne-Dellbrück Animal Shelter to PETBOOK. “They must be open to answering questions and allow us to do a pre-adoption home check.” Ute Reinhardt from the Berlin Animal Shelter adds: “It’s important to get advice on whether the pets fit the living conditions. Since 95 percent of our dogs have behavioral issues, experience with dogs is a crucial requirement for many.”

Heike Weber, head of animal welfare at TASSO, also believes age shouldn’t be an exclusion criterion for pet adoption. “Older people often have more time, are financially stable, their life situation is less subject to rapid change, and they can be motivated to care for the pet’s needs,” Weber explains in a press release. However, it might not be the best idea for someone with long-standing hip problems who can only walk short distances to choose a particularly active puppy, Weber concedes. 

Heavy Smokers Don’t Get Pets in Stuttgart

The Stuttgart Animal Shelter stands out with a specific rule in its adoption criteria, which applicants can find in the self-disclosure form for adopting a pet. It states: “If pets are to be placed in smoking households where they are forced to passively smoke (increased risk of bronchial cancer!), we may not give out pets.”

In Hamburg, this also plays a role in pet adoption: “Smoking is not an exclusion criterion for us,” says Sven Fraaß. “However, if someone smells strongly of cigarette smoke, it’s assumed they smoke indoors, affecting our animals. Since animals are non-smokers, we don’t place them in such households.” Sylvia Hemmerling from the Cologne Animal Shelter confirms: “If the whole house reeks of cigarette smoke, we take the pet back immediately.”

Those with Too Little Money Can’t Care for a Pet

The costs for pets have risen significantly, not least due to the increase in veterinary fees. “It’s becoming more common for people to return pets for financial reasons,” reports Sylvia Hemmerling from the Cologne-Dellbrück Animal Shelter in conversation with PETBOOK. Veterinary costs have increased by up to 30 percent due to the fee adjustment. “People just don’t realize what can happen. But even if nothing happens, just vaccinations, chipping, or blood tests can push some to their financial limits.” Therefore, they urge people to consider whether they can really afford a pet. “We openly ask if people are aware of what a pet costs over 15 years and that a surgery can cost 6,000 euros. That’s something we have to ask nowadays.”

Sabine Urbainsky, head of the animal shelter at the Frankfurt Animal Protection Association, also knows: “Veterinary costs hit the wallet hard. Financially, you should be able to live with 2,000 to 3,000 euros a year, not considering a severe illness. After all, the costs associated with pet ownership can become a problem for the owner. Of course, income plays a role, but we don’t check it.”

That’s not allowed, as Sven Fraaß from the Hamburg Animal Shelter reports. They also can’t ask if someone is unemployed. “However, if we know someone is a welfare recipient (Editor’s note: replaced by ‘citizen’s income’ in 2023) or homeless and struggling to finance their own life, we probably wouldn’t place a pet that incurs costs,” says Kristina Berchtold, press and public relations at the Munich Animal Protection Association, in conversation with PETBOOK. They point out costs during consultations but don’t check income statements.

Drunk People Don’t Get Pets—Not Even Their Own

While most animal shelters don’t provide clear information on how they handle drunk people in pet adoption, Sven Fraaß from the Hamburg Animal Shelter gives a clear statement: “If someone is drunk, they don’t get a pet from us, not even their own, which may have been with us for safekeeping after an official intervention and is to be picked up.”

»If We Don’t Have a Good Feeling, We Don’t Release the Pet

For shelter staff, giving up pets is not just a job. Pet adoption is a very personal, emotional matter. Even if all adoption criteria are met, staff may have a bad gut feeling. PETBOOK wanted to know if this affects who gets a pet and who doesn’t. Only the Stuttgart Animal Shelter answered this question with “no.” With the following reasoning: “It’s always human and subjective to see how a person is. If the criteria are met, there’s no reason for us to say no. However, the inquiry is a snapshot. If we notice that life is about to change, we do ask more detailed questions.”

In Hamburg, animal caretakers can report people who seem odd to them before adoption and send someone for a pre-adoption home check, as Sven Fraaß tells PETBOOK. In Frankfurt am Main, other colleagues would neutrally review the adoption if the staff had a bad gut feeling.

For Sylvia Hemmerling from the Cologne-Dellbrück Animal Shelter, it’s clear: “If we don’t have a good feeling or feel someone isn’t telling the truth, we don’t release the pet.” After all, it’s a responsible decision. “In my opinion, it’s also everyone’s right to say they have a bad feeling about it. I’ve experienced how it feels to place a pet that comes back after four weeks because people say ‘The cat climbed on the table.’ It’s like a stab in the heart.”

More on the topic

PETBOOK research Victims of abducted dog: “The worst part was the constant uncertainty”

Office dogs, puppies, training problems The sobering result after the dog boom

Are the Rules for Pet Adoption in Shelters Too Strict?

While most applicants understand, according to the shelters, some find the rules too strict. This is reflected in the Google reviews of the shelters. For example, about the Cologne Animal Shelter: “The staff of this shelter don’t allow the animals to be adopted and find a new, nice home. Instead, the animals are viewed as ‘property,’ and potential applicants as a threat.” So, are the rules too strict?

“We are often accused of being too strict in our adoptions—setting too high hurdles. But from our perspective, these are justified and important,” says Kristina Berchtold from the Munich Animal Protection Association in conversation with PETBOOK. Petra Veiel from the Stuttgart Animal Shelter agrees. In her opinion, it’s not the adoption criteria that are too strict, but rather some people’s ideas about pet ownership that aren’t well thought out.

Sabine Urbainsky from the Frankfurt Animal Protection Association also tells PETBOOK that they often experience little understanding from applicants when they are turned down. The main argument: The shelter should be glad to get rid of a pet. “But we don’t want to ‘get rid of’ the pet,” emphasizes Sabine Urbainsky. “We want it to be well-placed. What sense does it make to keep animals ourselves? We don’t get extra money from the city, costs keep rising, and every animal in the shelter blocks a spot for an animal in need.”

Pets Are Acquired Carelessly Nowadays

The right pet isn’t always immediately available like in a supermarket, says Kristina Berchtold from the Munich Animal Protection Association to PETBOOK. They wish people would have a bit more patience. Sylvia Hemmerling from the Cologne-Dellbrück Animal Shelter adds: “People come to the shelter thinking ‘I’m the good person because I’m rescuing a pet from the shelter.’ But they don’t see the other side: the responsibility we have for the pet. Pets are acquired so carelessly nowadays—whether from eBay or elsewhere. It’s so easy to get a pet if you want one, and just as quickly, they’re discarded. But these are living beings! You can’t do that to them!”

Heike Weber from TASSO, who ran a shelter for a long time, describes it similarly. “Unfortunately, over the years, you repeatedly have bad experiences and suddenly realize that people who seemed well-prepared actually know little about pet ownership.” Or they aren’t willing to commit to the pet’s needs long-term. The close scrutiny in the shelter is generally not personal and should always be understood as wanting the best for their charges. Openness and honesty are needed from both sides in the adoption process—always for the welfare of the animals.